Boosting mechanism for bread slicing machines



A. Dl PRIMA Aug. 19; 1941.

BOOSTING MECHANISM FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Sept. 17, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ANTHONY DI PRIMA B Q JW ATTORNEY Aug. 19,1941. ID] pR I 2,253,367

BOOSTING MECHANISM FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Sept. 17, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IQ f "f v 7 ,6 i? 2' Q P 3 I Z6 74 /a i i 1-2 n: I L 1 27F 4 I I 5 l 1 9 g I INVENTOR V ANTHONY DIPRIMA' BY Patented Aug. 19,1941 BOOSTING MECHANISM FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Anthony Di Prima,Brooklyn, N.

Y., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New lersey Application September 17, 1938, Serial No. 230,464

This invention relates to a driving mechanism, especially to mechanismfor feeding articles in series to a station at which such an operationas slicing loaves of bread is to be performed, and more particularly tosuch a mechanism in which the operating parts move in a predeterminedcycle occupying a given time andwhich will hereinafter be termed themachine cycle.

The general object of the invention is to pro-, vide in such a machinemeans for effecting an intra-cycle acceleration-deceleration of theconveyor by which the loaves are fed seriatim to the slicing knives, inorder to speed-up or boost the feed preliminary to the slicingoperation, the selection of a breadaslicing machine being, however,merely illustrative, as certain features of. the invention are intendedfor utilization in a wide range of applications. I

In a machine for slicing loaves, of the type selected for illustration,the loaves are supplied to a conveyor usually havingendless chains withflights or pushers by which the loaves-are advanced toward the slicerknives.

As a loaf approaches the slicing station, its pusher retiresautomatically from behind the loaf, thus leaving the loaf stationary andwithout means of ad-' machine cycle to set the pushers permanently farenough apart to accommodate the widest loaves in course of production atabakery, and as the machine may be needed for operation on severalnarrower sizes, for the reason that each such narrower loaf has to beadvanced for an appreciable time'before it contacts with the precedingstationary loaf, the space being equal to the difference in distancebetween the pusher blades and the width of the loaf, or in other words,the distance between the front face of the loaf being advanced and therear face of the leading loaf.

Under suchconditions, it is an object of the present invention to absorbthe time waste above described and use it to advantage by speeding up orboosting the conveyor drive for a period equal to the difference'indistance between the pusher blades and the width of the loaves, and

' of gearing have been shown,

sizes of loaves, such a practice results in the waste- 4 of considerabletime whenieeding loaves of the.

on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

6 Claims. (Cl. -155) thus save the time, very considerable in theaggregate, which has heretofore been'lost while the narrow loaves havebeen idling successively brought up, ahead. v

In carrying the invention into effect, while the me fo'f completing thecycle has not been reduced, as the loaves are fed through the knives atreduced speed, it is to be noted that a distinct advantage is gained bysuch reductionof .the speed of the loaf as it passes,through the slicingknives, resulting in a smoother and better cut for the narrower loaves.

Another object of the'invention is to provide for carrying the inventioninto effect in such a each against the .loaf

manner that when wider leaves are to be cut.

the feed of these wider loaves through the knives will be automaticallysped up, while the machine cycle remains constant, so that the productof the machine remains reliably constant without special attention otherthan theadjustment for width of loaf during a given run.

A cognate object of the invention is to provide means by which theoperator need only concern himself with the width of loaves he ishandling, and for that purpose the invention provides a direct readingscale, and a cooperating setting lever 1 which indicates the widths ofloaves ininches, and can be set with a minimum of attention, without anycalculation by the operator.

For the sake of convenience in describing the operation of the device,certain sizes and ratios but all are naturally subject to readjustmentsaccording to the requirements of particular installations.

Other objectsandfeatures of the invention will-appear, as thedescriptionjof the particular physical embodiment .of the inventionselected for illustration proceeds.

' In the accompanying drawings, like characters of reference have beenapplied to corresponding .parts throughout the several views which makeup the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in sectional-side elevation of a bread slicing machinein' the construction of which the invention has been embodied;

Fig. 2 is a view in sectional end elevation, taken Fig. 3 isa schematicview of the drive as illus-' trated in Figs. 1 and 2, showing the ratiosof gears and. sprockets appropriate for an assumed ing the operation ofthe invention.

In Fig. 1 are shown several loaves of bread La, Lb, Lc, Ld and Le inprocess of being pushed width of load adopted for convenience indescribuntil they were conveyor chains sprocket wheel sprocket type ofconveyor. Loaf La has been partly sliced while being pushed intothisqposi-.

tion by pusher Pa which has just dropped away from its dotted lineposition Pa back of loaf Lc, thus bringing the forward motion of loavesIa, Lb and L to a temporary halt, and these loaves will remain in thatposition until pusher Pb has advanced into position Pb carrying loaf mforward to position Ld where it contacts loaf Lc. As pusher Pb continueson its way it pushes loaves Ld', Le, b and La. ahead until it drops awayfrom behind loaf Ld, which has now taken the position previously held byloaf Lc.

It will thus be seen that intermittent advance of the loaves is causedby the time required for each loaf to traverse the gap between it andthe loaf ahead.

The booster device reduces this delay by speeding up the conveyor driveduring this period.

The pushers position onrods are carried in a free swinging H which areattached to the i2, Figs. 1 and 2,'driven by sprockets 13 on shaft 14. Aroller IS on each pusher, as P, travels on a cam bar l6 and supports theloaves to a point near the slicer knives K, where the cam bar [8 is cutaway, causing roller I! to lose its support and pusher Pa to drop awayfrom behind loaf Lc, thereby halting the advance of loaves Lc, Lb andLa.

At this point thespeed-up" or boosterf ture is brought into action.

Its mechanism consists of the following parts:

A spur gear H on shaft it engages an idler gear i8 on shaft IS. A crank20, secured to shaft l8, carries at its outer end a pin 2| on which isrotatably mounted a spur pinion 22 which meshes .with idler gear iii. Asprocket wheel 23 secured to spur pinion 22, is connected by chain 24 to25, to the hub of which is adjustably attached a sprocket wheel 28 (seeFig. 2). A chain 21 connects sprocket wheel 28 with one of twin sprocketwheels 28 on cam shaft 29. Twin sprocket wheels 28 are connected bychain 38 to'sprocket wheel 3| on drive shaft 32.

fea- I at a uniform speed.

the pusher in a correct position for advancing All sprocket wheelsthroughout this drive are of same pitch diameter.

A cam disk 88 secured to cam shaft 28 has a cam groove in which of camlever 86, operates to impart an oscillating motion to slotted sector 31;lever 88 and sector 31 being of bell-crank construction and pivoted onshaft 42. v

In the slot of sector 81 is adiustably secured a pivot block 40 of a rod38 which connects with a crank 38 secured to shaft i9.

It will thus be clear that the power for driving the conveyor l2 asdelivered from drive shaft 82 must pass through this entire mechanism.

The only means for varying the speed from that delivered by shaft 32comprises adjustments of the block 40 of rod 88 in the curved slot ofsector 81. The pivot-block 40 on the end of rod 88 can be secured in thecurved, slotted sector 31 by means of a T-bolt as at N, and a graduatedscale "is attached for convenience tween loaf pushers, the length ofcrank 89 and the gear ratio in the drive train. 7

If the end of rod 88 is locked in a position cora roller 38, on theend.

responding to the center 42 of cam lever 38 the power delivered at drive"shaft 82 will run through the sprockets and gear train and drive theconveyor I! at a constant speed. If however the rod 88 be locked to theslotted sector 81 in any position removed from the center 42, it willoperate to intermittently increase and reduce the speed, such intracycleacceleration-deceleration recurring once in each cycleor revolution ofthe cam disk 33, which as already indicated, represents the machinecycle.

The groove 84 in cam disk 88 is designed to eifect the speed-up or"boost" during one-sixth of a revolution, and during the remainingfivesixths of the cycle the speed is moderated to allow the loaves topass through the slicer knives In Fig. 3 is shown a diagram of theconveyor drive in which the conveyor i2 is driven by a sprocket wheel98, the pitch circumference of which is equal to twice the distancebetween loaf pushers P. Consequently it requires onehalf of a revolutionof sprocket i8 and the shaft M to which it is attached to advanceconveyor i2 a distance equal to the space .between pushers P.

Assuming that the space between pusherblades P on conveyor chain i2 is8% inches, and

that loaves 3 /2 inches wide are being fed into the slicer, therewill-remain a space 5% inches wide between the loaves.

As before stated, it would normally require one-half of a rotation ofshaft H to advance the conveyor a distance equal to the space betweenpushers, or 8% inches, and as gear I! on shaft it has 60 teeth, 8%inches on the conveyor corresponds to 30 teeth on gear l1. To advancethe conveyor 5% inches would therefore involve the action of 18 teeth ongear ll 5i I X30 18) and as this space is to be covered in one-sixth ofthe cycle, the main drive actuates 5 teeth (BO/(i=5), of the required18, during this period, leaving 13 teeth on gear" to be advanced by theoscillation of crank 28, imparted by sector 31 of the device and actingto impart a planetary movement to gear 22 bodily from its fulllineposition to its dotted line position.

With the loaves on the conveyor and the position of cam groove 34 asindicated in Figs. 1 and 8, when the drive is started the roller 35 oncam lever 38 will start swinging sector 31, and through rod 38 which isconnected to crank 38, crank 20 will be oscillated in the directionindicated by the arrow, thus bringing the -booster feature into action.I

As before mentioned, the booster period lasts during one-sixth oi thecycle and the extent of the boost depends on the setting of rod 88 insector 31. During the remaining flve-sixths of the cycle the drivecontinues through chains and sprockets to pinion 22 which would rotateidler gear i825 teeth 30=25) were it not that cam groove 34 during thisperiod oscillates crank 20. and brings it back to the position itoccupied at the start of the cycle, thus retracing the 13 I8 during the"booster period and leaving 12 teeth of rotation (25-1 3=12), of gear Itto be transmitted to gear l1 on shaft H which causes sprocket l3 to berotated 72 degrees X360=72). 72 degrees of rotation of sprocket l3advances conveyor l2 ('%soX8.'l5=3.5) 3% inches, which is lation to thedirection, the article the space necessary to cover after a boost of Thegraduations on the back of sector 31' inches in order to advance theconveyor 8% 5 which, for the convenience of the operator, arealpreferably marked to indicate the width of a". in

loaf, arederived from two constant values-the length of crank 39 and theangular displacement-- of sector 3'!and one variable value, that of thedistance between loaves. The operator therefore hasto concern himselfonly with the width of the loaf he ishandling and he may place the endof rod 38 in any position on curved sector 3'! where the width of theloaf is indicated on the graduated scale 41 (3 inches in this case).

- When operating upon wider loaves, the boost period necessarily isreduced'and, as theslicing period remains unchanged, a higher cuttingspeed will be maintained while passing a wider loaf through the slicerknives than would be maintained with a narrower width of loaf.

This condition is favorable to the loaf slicing operation as it has beenfound by experience that .a smaller loaf lacks stand up to a hard thenecessary resistance to push against the slicer knives whereas the bulkof a larger loaf can take a harder push.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article feed of the type which includes an operator device,such as a slicer unit, and a conveyor for advancing a series oi?articles, such as loaves, along an article-way toward said slicer unitat a relatively high speed, and for advancing them through said slicerunit at a relatively lower speed, whilemaintaining a machine cycle ofsubstantially constant predetermined duration,

move said planet gear bodily in its orbit comprising a crank centeredfreely upon the axis of said sun gear, a rotatable cam coordinated forco-rotation with said means by which said planet gear isrotated, and abell-crank lever connected for oscillation by said cam and having anadjustable linkage with said crank adapted to impart thereto intracyclephases of acceleration-deceh eration of desired amplitude.

4. An article feed having the features claimed claim 1, wherein saidmeans to move said planet gear bodily in its orbit comprises a crankcentered freely upon the axis of said sun gear, a rotatable camcoordinated for co-rotation with said means by which said planet gear isrotated, and a link-motion adapted tobe oscillated by said cam andhaving adjustable connections with said crank adapted to impart theretointracycle phases of acceleration-deceleration of desired amplitude,

said link-motion including a lever having an arm provided with a camfollower engaged with said cam, and an arm formed with a slot, aconnecting rod having a slidable connection with said slotted arm and aconnection with the hub of said crank.

5. In an article feed of the type which includesan operator device, suchas a slicer unit, and a conveyor for advancing a series of articles,such as loaves, along an article-way toward said slicer unit at arelatively high speed, and for advancing them through said slicer unitat a relatively lower speed, while maintaining a machine cycle ofsubstantially constant predetermined duration, mechanism for actuatingsaid conveyor to eifect intracycle acceleration-deceleraand mechanismfor actuating said conveyor to effect intracycleacceleration-deceleration thereof to produce said variations in speed;said mechanism including a sun gear and a planet gear dis- Posed inplanetary driving relationship, means to drive one of said last-namedgears, driving connections by which the other of said last-named ears isadapted to drive said conveyor, and means to cause betweensaid sun gearand planet gear, whereby when either of them is displaced bodily withreothergear in the direction of rotation of said other gear, the latterwill be decelerated, and the article feed will be driven at its lowerspeed, by virtue of said displacement, and when relative orbitaldisplacement as said displaced gear is 'displaced in the opposite feedwill be driven at its higher speed, and a control device readily operabl'e manually for effecting said displacements at will.

2. An article-feed having the features claimed in claim 1, wherein saidthe free end of a crank movable rotatabiy upon the axis of said sungear, sprocket wheels disposed on said axis, a sprocket chain runningbetween a sprocket wheel connected with said planet gear and one of thesprocket wheels disposed co-axially with relation. to said sun gear, andanother sprocket chain running from a sprocket wheel disposed on saidsun gear axis and a driving sprocket wheel connected with a source ofpower for the machine.

planet gear is carried at.

tion thereof to produce said variations in speed, said mechanismcomprising a shaft, a spur gear fast on said shaft, a counter-shaft, anidler gear on said counter-shaft, in mesh with said spur gear,- a crankfixed on said counter-shaft and carrying at its free end a stud, a spurpinion rotatable on said studin mesh with said idler gear, a sprocketwheel mounted to rotate with said spur pinion on the stud, a sprocketwheel rotatable around the axis of said countershaft, a sprocket chainconnecting said sprocket wheels 'on the stud and counter-shaft, a,second sprocket wheel connected coaxially with said sprocket wheel onthe counter-shaft and adapted to rotate the same when driven itself, asprocket chain to'drive said second sprocket wheel, means to actuatesaid last-named sprocket chain, means to oscillate said crank to advanceand alternately to reverse said gearing at alternatively diflferentspeeds, and adjusting means for varying the amplitude of the oscillatorymotion.

6. In an article feed of the type which includesv 'er speed, whilemaintaining a machine cycle of substantially constantpredetermined-duration,

mechanism for actuating said conveyor to eifect intra-cycle accelerationand deceleration thereof to produce said variations in speed, saidmechanism comprising'a driven gear connected to drive said conveyor, adriving gear in constant mesh with said driven gear, and means toactuate said driving gear rotatively in a forward direction whilevarying the output speed of said gearing.

ANTHONY DI PRIMA.

